The Night We Met
by khrissyg
Summary: Life had been unbearable for Maeve. She's planning to end it all when Elena and Elijah come crashing in to her life. Little do any of them know, her past will come back to haunt her. Will they be able to help her heal from the scars of the past? Can she help them heal from theirs?


As Maeve sat on the edge of Wickery Bridge, her thoughts traveled to all the people she'd lost. She wondered if even one of them where still alive would she be here? It didn't matter, it would end tonight. The pain had been crushing her for years now, ever present with no relief. She had fought the good fight, but there was nothing left to fight for anymore. How could one person lose so much? Every person who had ever held a place in her heart was gone. She had an open bottle of prescription painkillers in her hand. She had chosen something relatively painless, she had known enough pain in twenty-five years of life, she didn't want to carry it with her in death.

As she was pouring pills into her hand, she caught the sound of a vehicle speeding toward her. When she looked up she saw the image of a blonde woman she could have sworn wasn't there two seconds ago. The car was heading straight toward the woman. She watched in morbid fascination as the car swerved and smashed through the guardrail. It took her only a moment's hesitation to start running, dropping the bottle of pills in the water as she went. In that moment, the blonde woman had disappeared. Maeve wasn't sure that she had ever really been there. It didn't matter. Nobody would die tonight. No family was going to feel the pain of a dead loved one. Not if she could help it.

She sprinted down the bridge, around the side, down the bank, and flung herself in to the freezing water. Swimming as fast and as hard as she could, she reached the car just as it sank fully underwater. Once the door was open, Maeve realized there were two teenagers in the car. Unfortunately, she knew she wasn't going to be able to pull them both up. Choosing felt wrong. The boy was unconscious, the girl was barely hanging on. Seeing Maeve's internal struggle, the girl began waving frantically at the boy. The girl had made her choice for her. She nodded towards the girl, managed to pull the boy free and began pulling him to the surface. When they had finally made it to shore, she heard a splash.

Looking up from the boy, she saw another do-gooder swimming to the car. Good. Maybe they'd get to the girl in time. If not, it would just be another thing for her to regret. When the boy she'd pulled from the water began to cough and sputter she turned him on side. He spit up several mouthfuls of water and began to take great heaving breaths before collapsing again. At least he was breathing. Her phone had been in her pocket when she went in the water, no chance of calling for an ambulance. Once the others had resurfaced, someone could go for help. It was only a few minutes before the man she'd seen dive in after the girl popped above the water, but it had felt like hours. He pulled the girl to shore and she immediately ran over to help. As she was checking the girls pulse, the man spoke.

"Did, did you see what happened?" he asked between breaths.

"There was a woman standing in the middle of the bridge, car swerved to miss her and ended up in the water. I couldn't pull them both up. I got the boy out, you got the girl. She has no pulse, do you know proper CPR?" She looked at his face as she moved to start chest compressions. Pain shadowed his face. Damn. He must know them. "Okay, never mind. I used to work in the medical field, I've got this part handled. I need you to get to a phone and call for an ambulance. Or flag someone down. Whichever ends up being faster. We need help and we need it now."

As Maeve moved to give the girl two breaths in between rounds of compressions, she realized the man hadn't moved. He must have been in shock. That wasn't helpful. If she had any chance of getting this girl back he was going to have to get it together.

"Hey. HEY! Look at me! What's your name?" She had to shout to get his attention.

"Elijah, my name is Elijah." He spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable with just the barest hint of an accent.

"Okay, Elijah, I need you to go get help. I'm doing my very best to bring her back. She's in good hands. Go back up to the road. Find a phone. Flag someone down. We need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible or she doesn't stand a chance."

Her words finally seemed to sink in. The man jumped up and ran at inhuman speed. Vampire. Damn it. She didn't want to get involved with any more supernatural creatures. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and paused CPR to check the girl's pulse, and shockingly, found it to be strong. Another check showed she was breathing on her own. Not five minutes later the girl opened her eyes and began to scream.

"No, no, no look it's okay, you're okay. Your friend from the car, he's fine. Spit out a few mouthfuls of water but he's breathing and I think he's gonna be okay. You lost your pulse but I got you back. That man, Elijah, he went to get help. The three of us are gonna stay here until the ambulance comes, okay?" The girl nodded and laid her head back on the grass. As Maeve moved to grab the girls hand, hoping to keep her calm, she saw flashing lights in the distance. They watched as the lights got closer and closer until ambulances and police cars finally pulled as close to the bank as possible. Maeve tried to let go of the girl when she was loaded into the ambulance, but the girl just clutched tighter and pleaded with her eyes. She decided it wouldn't hurt to stick around a while longer. Once they made it to the hospital, the girl was sedated and she could finally let go. She almost left the hospital. Almost. Something was holding her there. The girl was alone. She hadn't even seen the man who'd pulled her from the water. Maeve knew what it was like to be alone, knew how terrifying it could be. She sat in the waiting area watching the clock tick. At some point, she fell asleep without even realizing she was tired.


End file.
